Donna was born in Vermont, and raised in Southern New Hampshire.  The middle child of 5, she grew up with resourceful, creative parents who encouraged their children to be the same. Perhaps that is why her parents were amused, and not angry, when as a child, they found she had drawn Disney characters all over her freshly painted bedroom walls!

Having worked “against the grain” as she refers to it, for many years, in positions which required her to develop the “left side of her brain”… (she laughs) all of this has proven to be helpful in her self employment endeavors.  With her love for design and color, Donna’s first experiment in self employment was in Interior Decorating.  She has also worked as a floral designer, of which she still dabbles.  When she needs inspiration or to break out of a creative funk, she will head to her garden, or start to use her hands to design in the floral arts.  It is one of the places she looks to for respite.   

As a designer in the needlecraft industry, she has published several instructional pamphlets through Leisure Arts.  Her designs have been published in various needlecraft magazines, McCalls, etc, as well. Her sweater designs are classic styles that are still popular today.  Needlecraft design came to a halt when she was introduced to decorative painting.

Having taken just a couple classes in decorative painting in 1994, Donna was asked to teach this for Adult Continued Education in her area.  This launched, what has turned out to be an unexpected career in this field.  She has had her designs/artwork published in numerous decorative painting magazines, written articles and provides instructional demonstrations for brush companies, has authored an instructional painting book entitled “Country Creek”.  Currently she has a full line of pattern packets, available to you on this website.

Students find her teaching style to be very relaxed, and a lot of fun.  Donna believes this is the best environment for others to learn, so her classes are filled with laughter and humorous stories that keeps everyone entertained, while learning new techniques.

Recently, Donna has revisited an old passion and life long ambition for her.  She has started to write a book entitled “Take what you like and leave the rest”.  Her book will be filled with samplings of life experiences, thus lessons (treasures) she has been blessed with, encompassing joy, pain, loss, art, creativity, faith, hope, and much more, combined with her unique style or wit and humor that is exemplified in her teaching.

A native New Englander, she foresees that she will always make her home in New England, that her hands will always be involved in art, in one form or another.